Mono or Braid?

I've fished my whole life with mono. Took a few years off, didn't fish for a long time and now that I'm getting back into it, am trying new things. Just spooled up a few reels with PowerPro and gotta say...I don't like it.
For some reason, I can't seem to make my usual knots with the stuff, can't get the knots to slip down the line. Also, it seems like the line gets abraided and torn up.

Am I doing something wrong or is this to be expected. Should I switch back to mono?

What say you all, mono or braid?

Re: Mono or Braid?

I was a mono fisherman for about 45 years. Tried Iron Thread and liked it, tried Power Pro and haven't looked back. Everything (except the flyrod) has Power Pro on it.

Took a bit of learning how to treat it and how to use it.

Uni-knots work well.

Re: Mono or Braid?

uni knots are great use them all the time. as for tying knots always have some good ol spit ready ...nothing better for a liitle help in tying knots with any line...slipperly when wet is good...

Re: Mono or Braid?

Braid is the way to go. I did switch from power pro to Suffix performance braid. Suffix is thinner and knots hold better.

Re: Mono or Braid?

I have tested lines for over 15 years. Measured the diameter, streach and breaking strength and how it held up over time. Started back when it was Mono or Dacron and continued when the supper braids came out.

First one out was Kevlar and it was a great line for about 1 month but after that would break on every hook set. It is no longer on the market.

One other braid that I will never use again is Spider line or wire. It has three problems. One would not hold a knot, even the special knots. People tried supper glue and it helped but I have one who will shoot your if you use it on his boat after two spilled glue all over his seats while useing Spiderwire. Also the Braid is too loose and it will actually not stay together. Last I lost a nice 40 pound Salmon testing spiderline 35 lb test with a 20 mono leader the Spiderline borke. Drag set at 5 Pounds with a pull at 90 degrees to the rod like I always use. It was a long fight and the salmon jumped more than any salmon I ever caught but the 35 pound test broke not the 20 pound mono.

All the rest of the superbraid lines I have used have been very good. Power Pro is not my favorite as the diameter is a little larger than most. My Favorite is Cortlands Spectra but hard to fine now. Cabela Ripcord SI plus is also very good but too high priced so I do not buy much. Offshore Angler and Bass Pro Spectra is cheap and good but lower quality than many. It seams like they put the color on last so you will see glops of color in spots and the color wears off faster.

I belive the lines are still getting better. Many new lines are rounder and hold their shape better. Also Hold knots better and the color is inbeded in the line. Two new ones I have only tested one year so far but really like is the P line Spectra and the New Stren Spectra. I forgot the name of the lines but I like them because they are rounder. I have not yet tried Suffix.

I will tell you one Pro Guide I know very well has switched back from the Superbraids to Mono. The reason is too many broken rods. He uses Graphite Rods 9 foot long with a 15 to 30 rating for stripers and Salmon and a Griphite slightly heaver rod for Sturgeon. He has had a lot of broken Rods from customer who set the hook too hard. They are used to useing fiberglass rods with streachy Mono and set very hard. When they set with a graphite rod and spectra line something had to give and of course it was a $135 rod.

Fishing deep you can feel the bite so much better and with the thin diameter not have to use near as big a weight. My deep salt water rods I use E-Glass or a E-Glass / Graphite combo and only use the superbraids.

Re: Mono or Braid?

What's the difference between braided line and flourocarbon line, and which one do you like better?

Re: Mono or Braid?

I just bought a new rod and am going back to mono. I've had horrible luck this year fishing with braid. I recently was told by a local guide that you have to use a leader with braid, fish can see the braided line and stay away, that he catches alot more fish when he uses a mono leader of 2 to 3 feet. I've been tying the hook right to the braid. Also, I've been using an old fishermans knot and it doesn't work well on braid, had to switch to a Uni knot which I'm still not fast at tying.
So, back to mono for me for a while, gonna test the same waters/baits/tides and see if fishing improves.

Re: Mono or Braid?

Braid takes some getting used to but is the way to go. I never thought I would say that but it`s true. You dont have to set the hook when fishing with braid as there is no streatch. You simply lift the rod and the fish hooks it self. Setting the hook like with mono and you will pull the hook out of it`s mouth. The knots are not as hard as everyone makes them out to be. The power pro comes with instructions on which knots to use and they work great. Yes it takes some getting used to but the pros out weigh the cons. I do put on a 4-10 ft. floro. leader when I fish with braid to give it a little streatch but that is also easy and when fishing around the rocks comes in handy as braid will not stand up to the abrasions well. I`v gone from having to use 6-8 oz. of lead down to 3-5 because of the diamater difference. You can feel every tap and this is important when fishing for tog (blackfish) you can feel the sinker actually sliding down the side of a rock. In my opinion yes go with braid it takes some getting used to but the most important thing to remember is dont set the hook like Orlando Wilson or you will miss a lot of fish. Simply lift the rod and your in. Good Luck.

Re: Mono or Braid?

You only once have to see how we outfish the mono guys on a head boat 10 to 1 when we go after cod or haddock at 2 or 3 hundred feet down.The mono guys don't even know that they have a fish on while we with either dacron or power pro feel the bite as if it is just 2 feet below the surface.
The ideal situation is braid with 4 or 5 feet of fluorocarbon (50 to 80 pound test) and as an extra I put a small light stick in the teasers (nicely pre warmed and half covered in insulating material so they don't go cold in 5 minutes and loose light).My teasers often get more hookups than either shrimp or clam.
All the above happens about 30 miles out of Gloucester on Stellwagen bank and 85 miles east and a bit north of Gloucester on another ledge that I will leave unnamed because my BIL would kill me otherwise.I can tell you that it is close to Cashes Ledge.

Re: Mono or Braid?

Wouldn't the whole thing in florocarbon work just as well since the florocarbon isn't supposed to stretch?

By the way, a little off-topic, but what is that recipe in your avatar? I can tell it's a fish fillet wrapped around SOMETHING... but what?

Re: Mono or Braid?

Yes it could work with fluorocarbon, but fluorocarbon is a very thick material and you would be hard pressed to put 3 or 4 hundred yards of 80 pound line on even a penn senator 113 while dacron and specially power pro are much thinner and as such take up much less space on your reel.Besides the thicker your line ,the more water resistance (side current) there is and the heavier a sinker you will need.Where with 80 pound power pro you can use a 12 to 16 ounce sinker you will need a 30 ounce sinker if you use fluorocarbon and winching up 30 ounce weights from 300 feet down tends to start hurting your arms after a while.There is a significant difference in cost;a good quality fluorocarbon being quite expensive.Now you may ask why the need for 80# line.The answer is simple. a double hookup of 2 45 pound cod and a 16 ounce sinker is good enough for 80 pound test. As for my avatar,what you see is a Rolmops.This is a pickled herring wrapped around a dill (pickle) with some pickled onion.The whole thing is kept together with a tooth pick.From personal experience I can tell you that consuming a rolmops or two will make you very thirsty for more beer...

Re: Mono or Braid?

I thought flourocarbons were supposed to be thinner than monofilaments... grr that kinda makes me mad. Here I went and bought my wife some flourocarbon line for x-mas and if it's thicker she's not going to like it.

Re: Mono or Braid?

I only compared fluorocarbon to dacron and super braids.I do not know whether it is thicker or thinner than mono

Re: Mono or Braid?

When fishing with braided lines I always use a topshot of flourocarbon or mono line. I do a lot of offshore fishing for Tuna and other large species and typically use 100 to 150 ft of flourocarbon topshot.

Re: Mono or Braid?

I think it depends were u fish i fish in a canal and in creeks(saltwater) so its best to use braided to keep the fish out of the mangroves but i have 2 poles with mono

Re: Mono or Braid?

SgtMaj said:

I thought flourocarbons were supposed to be thinner than monofilaments... grr that kinda makes me mad. Here I went and bought my wife some flourocarbon line for x-mas and if it's thicker she's not going to like it.

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Good flouro is thinner and a lot less visible to the fish than mono but it is stiffer and has a lot more memory so if its coiled up on a spool it tends to want to keep those coils when you cast out, thats why your better off spooling up with braid or mono and using a rods length of flouro leader at the end.